Corset.



PATENTED 00T. 6,1903-,

` A. M. BQNSJEHLA.v

AGQRSET. APPLICATION FILED JULY 2, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES lllatented October 1903.

ADELINE M. DONSIIEA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

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SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 740,824, dated October 6, 1903.

- Application tiled .Tuly 2, WOLv Serial No. 114,126. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.-

` Be it known that I, ADELINE M. DoNsHEA, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corsets, of which the following is a specification. Y This invention relates to improvements in corsets; and its main object is to provide an improved laced-front corset of the abdominal type by means of which the abdomen may be reduced, raised, and supported in a perfectly-natural manner, so as to permit the utmost freedom of respiration and avoid as much as possible any unnecessary interference with the movements of the adjacent parts of the body. I accomplish these results by providing a corset of this type in which the front opening to be laced is relatively wide and permits a great reduction to be made in the width of the front of the corset during lacing for the purpose of reducing the abdomen and in which the lower or abdominal portion of the front of the corset is substantially straight and does not dare at all at the bottom of the front nor to any considerable extent at the sides, it being so cut andl shaped as to tend always to force the abdomen upward instead of downward. Moreover, the front and side portions of the corset above and below the waist-line merge gradually into each other to permit an even distribution of the conned tissues, dac.

The body of my improved corset is continuousthat is to say, it has a closed back so shaped that it constitutes a gown-back conforming exactly to the shape of the back of the wearer and presenting no uncomfortable or distigurin g connections, which weaken the back and mar the appearance of the back of a gown worn over an ordinary corset.

For hooking the corset in position and removing the same I provide at one edge of the opening in the front a detachable stay laced to one edge of such opening and adjustably secured to the other, this stay or steel preferably having the lacing devices or eyelets in the cloth covering thereof instead of in the body of the stay. These stays are relatively short, as is the corset as a whole, and leave the wearer free to bend over.

In the drawings accompanying this specitication and forming part of the present application, Figure l is a front View of an abdominal corset laced in front and constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same.

The body of my improved corset when linished will preferably be a single continuous member, although it may be made up ofa plurality of sections out to the proper shape and then sewed together, as indicated. The stays or steels for stiening the body of the corset may be located at any suitable positions; but when the corset is of the abdominal type shown the stays or steels at the sides and front thereof should be so arranged as to provide for the greatest amount of abdominal support without unduly stiifening the bust portion of the corset. In order to accomplish this result, the body of the corset preferably has at each side thereof a plurality of stays or steels, such as 3, 4, and 5, which diverge from the hip-line toward the bust-line of the corset, the ends of these`steels being relatively close together at the hip-line and separated by considerable intervals at the bustline-and extending diagonally upward and forward.

At the front of the corset the two edges 6 and 7 of the corset-body form between them an opening, the width of which may be increased or decreased by the usual lacing-.cord S, laced across from one side of the corsetopening to the other. At the edge 7 the lacing-cord 8 may be passed directly through the usual eyelets 9, which in this case are not clenched through openings punchedl in a corset-steel at the edge of the corset-opening,

but instead are clenched through the fabric of the body portion, which extends some distance beyond the stays or steels l0 and ll nearest said edge of the corset-body.

The edges 6 and 7 are not symmetrically disposed with respect to the centerline of the front of the corset-body, the edge G being much farther from such center line than the edge 'Zin order that sufficient space may be left to permit I a separate steel having a row of lacing devices for the lacing-cord to be detaohably connected to the edge 6 of the corset-body. The usual row of clasps, such as l2, may be employed l for this purpose, the eye of each clasp being secured to or integral with a stay or steel 13, inclosed in a pocket at the edge of the corsetbody, while the hooks of the clasps may be carried by the separate steel or stay to which the lacing-cord is connected. In the preferred construction this separate stay or steel, which is designated by 14, is inclosed in a staypocket formed by a separate strip or strips of fabric of considerably greater width than the stay 14. This separate fabric or strip, which is designated by 15, is so stitched as to form at the edge thereof adjacent the edge 6 of the corset-body a stay-pocket, the inner line of stitching of which is indicated at 16, while the part of said strip remote from said edge constitutes an extension 17,consisting, preferably, of two or more layers of cloth, to which may be fastened lacing devices, such as the eyelets 20, clenched therethrough. By employing a stay-pocket having an extension of this character with a row of lacing devices or eyelets secured thereto all the strength of the steel 14, which would be impaired if the steel were formed with a row of closely-spaced holes punched through the steel, is retained. As there is always a great strain on this steel, the provision of a row of lacing-eyelets reduces the danger of breakage of said steel and also reduces the cost of manufacture thereof, as no special tools are required for punching the eyelet-holes in the fabric of the extension 17the operation of punching a row of holes in the cloth and clenching the eyelets in place therein being a very simple one as compared with the corresponding operations performed on a steel stay.

At the hip-lines 21 of the corset the several thicknesses of cloth at the edge of the corsetbody usually form a distinct ridge that breaks up the smooth lines of a skirt worn over the corset. In order to avoid this, I provide a pair of hip-tabs, such as 25, connected to the corset-body, at the hip-lines thereof, in such a manner as to form a continuous smoothsurfaced extension of the corset at each side thereof, each of these hip-tabs preferably running the entire length of the corresponding hip portion of the corset-body. The usual elastic supporters, such as 26, may be secured to the lower ends of these hip-tabs and to the lower end of the corset-body and the staypocket strip, respectively.

It will be evident that a corset constructed in accordance with my invention permitsthe utmost freedom of movement at the bust portion thereof,while giving the proper abdominal support, is easily put on, removed, or adjusted, and the attaching-stay thereof is not weakened by a large number of closely-spaced eyelets inserted therein, nor is the stay at the opposite edge of the corset-opening so weakened, the full strength of both these stays being retained, owing to the clench-' ing of the lacing-eyelets through the cloth of the corset-body and of the attaching-stay cover.

1. In an abdominal laced-front corset, the combination with a corset-body extending substantially from the bust-line to the hipline and having at the edges of the front opening thereof a pair of stays one of which is detachably connected to one edge of said corset-opening and each of which is disposed at a considerable distance from the center line of the front of the corset to formbetween the stays a wide opening, the upper and lower portions of the corset merging gradually into each other at the waist-line and the Whole front of the lower portion of the corset being substantially straight and the sides thereof diverging but slightly from the Waist-line to form an abdominal portion the measurement of which is but slightly greater than that of the waist portion and which is adapted to raise and support the abdomen when the width of said corset-opening is reduced, and a lacing-cord connecting said stays for reducing the width of said opening.

2. In an abdominal laced-front corset, the combination with a corset-body extending substantially from the bust-line to the hipline and having at the edges of the front opening thereof a pair of short stays the upper ends of which are below the normal bustline of the wearer and one of which stays is detachably connected to one edge of said corset-opening and each of which is disposed at a considerable distance from the center line of the front of the corset to form between the stays a wide opening, the upper and lower portions of the corset merging gradually into each other at the waist-line and the whole front of the corset being substantially straight and disposed below said normal bust-line of the wearer and the sides of the lower portion of the corset diverging but slight-ly from the waist-line to form an abdominal portion the measurement of which is but slightly greater than that of the waist portion and which is adapted to raise and support the abdomen when the width of said corset-opening is reduced, of a lacing-cord connecting said stays for reducing the width of said opening.

3. In an abdominal laced-front corset, the combination with a continuous corset-body extending substantially from the bust-line to the hip-line and open at the front and closed at the back to form a gown-back and having at the edges of the front opening thereof a pair of stays one of which is detachably connected to one edge of said corsetopening and. each of which is disposed at a considerable distance from the center line of the front of the corset to form between the stays a wide opening,the upper and lower portions of the corset merginggradually into each other at the waist-line and the whole front of the lower portion of the corset being substan- IOC tally straight and the sides thereof diverg- Signed at New York, in the county of New Io ing but slightly from the Waist-line to form York and State of New York, this 25th day an abdominal portion the measurement of of June, A. D. '1902. which is but slightly greater than that of the 5 waist portion and which is adapted to raise ADELINE M. DONSHEA.

and support the abdomen when the width of said corset-opening isrednced, of a lacing- Witnesses:

ord connecting said stays for reducing the MARIE D. POIRIER, width of said opening. i EDWIN FRENCH, Jr. 

